The invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for printing and recording indicia and information on a medium such as paper, for example. More particularly, the invention relates to fully self contained and hand-held printing apparatus that can be manually actuated by, for example, a hand stamping motion.
Mechanically actuated stamping devices are well known and are commonly used for imprinting various types of indicia and information on a medium. Such information can include sequential numbers, dates, text, images and so on. Mechanical hand operated stamping devices, although used for many years, are fairly limited in their flexibility and convenience such as changing the information to be printed. Electronic stampers and hand-held printers known heretofore, including electronic printers that are operated with a sweeping motion across the medium, have required external input functions, such as from a remote computer, for example, have been limited in the quantity, single line output, type and variety of information that can be printed, and can exhibit considerable image distortion. Additionally, a conventional stationary printing device generally uses an electrically driven print head that traverses the medium parallel to the printed surface. The use of an electric motor or similar drive device increases substantially the power consumption of the apparatus, which is undesirable for any hand-held and operated unit.
The objectives exist, therefore, for better and more reliable and more efficient apparatus and methods for hand-held and operated fully self contained printers. For printing apparatus that will be used in place of conventional mechanical stampers it is desirable that such devices mimic the hand stamping motion and feel of a mechanical stamper, and further utilize a manually driven mechanical actuator to displace the print head, thereby reducing the power consumption of the apparatus.